Officers rushing to the MIT shooting in Cambridge/PHOTO BY MICHELLE JAY
At 10:48 p.m. on Thursday, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department officer was killed in a shooting on the MIT campus, according to a Middlesex District Attorney press release.
The officer was responding to a disturbance call in the area of the MIT Stata center, located on Vassar Street near Kendall Square less than half a mile from the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge.
“According to authorities, the officer was found evidencing multiple gunshot wounds,” the release stated. “He was transported to the hospital and pronounced deceased.”
There are no other victims reported and no arrests have been made yet, according to the release.
According to the MIT alert issued, various agencies arrived to the building by the time MIT sent out the alert. MIT authorities were at first unsure of injuries sustained by the gunshots, but at 12:07 a.m. the Cambridge Police Department confirmed a MIT security officer was shot fatally.
At 1:56 a.m. Friday morning, MIT announced that officers determined the suspect was no longer on campus, according to the MIT Emergency Information website. The site encouraged students to remain vigilant.
Massachusetts State Police and Cambridge Police Department officers are assisting MIT police in the investigation, according to a MSP tweet from about 12 a.m.
Soon after, scenes of chaos erupted as a car chase led to Watertown, where gunfire and explosions were reportedly heard.
Stata Center, where the shooting occurred, wis a visual landmark of Cambridge and MIT with its stark, boxy shape. The building was designed by famous architect Frank Gehry, according to the MIT website.
This is not the first major emergency event for MIT this year. In mid-February there was an MIT emergency alert issued warning of a gunman on MIT grounds. The tip was later found to be a hoax in honor of internet activist and rounder of Reddit, Aaron Swartz. The MIT website was also hacked in January by the group Anonymous to memorialize Swartz, who committed suicide in January of this year.
